Folding deck-chair.



R. A. & W. S. BATCHELOR.

FOLDING DECK CHAIR, APPLlcATloN FILED mAR.2x.19'14.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

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QW EL? THB COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH m0,. wASHxNGToN. D. c.

l rre ROBERT ALEXANDER BATCHELOR .AND WILLIAM STEVENTON BATCHELOR, OF NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

FOLDING DECK-CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr.. 25, 1916.

Application filed 'March 21, 1914. Serial No. 826,181.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, ROBERT ALEXANDER BATCHELOR and WILLIAM STEVENTON BAToHELoR, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, and both residents of the city of North Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements *in Folding Deck-Chairs, of which the follow` ing is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in folding deck chairs, and the like, and the object of our invention is to devise a folding chair which can be adjusted to any position from the vertical to the reclining, and in which any angle of repose may be maintained while the chair is in use without the necessity of the sitter rising from the chair or using any perceptible effort to make or maintain such adjustments, thus overcoming a great disadvantage common to the type of folding chairs in present use, in which the adjusted positions are regu lated by manually operated means carried by the chair, making it necessaryT for the sitter to rise out of the chair each time a change of position is desired.

A further object is to devise a folding chair having a flat seat which retains its rigidity in all positions, an object much to be desired on account of the greater comfort provided thereby and which cannot be attained in the present forms of folding chairs on account of their construction, which is such that the seat is free to sag between the side frames of the chair.

A still further obj ect is to devise a folding chair which, while possessing the-advantages over the present forms of chairs already pointed out in the foregoing, yet retains all the advantages common to the folding chair, that is to say, it can be folded up to a fiat bulk to economize space and it can be manufactured strongly and cheaply so as to be desirable and useful under practically any condition of service. y

l/Ve attain these objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of our chair, in the vertical position and looking on the back thereof. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, showing the chair extended and in the extreme reclining position.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

A and B are the side members of the back portion of our chair frame, these members being rigidly connected together by the cross bars C, D, and E.

F and G are the side members of the front of our chair frame, these members being rigidly connected together by the cross bars H and I.

J, K, and L are side arms connecting the members A and B with the members F and respectively, the connections being swivel connections and made by means of the pins M, which pass through the side arms J, K, and L, and the back and front members A-B and F-Gr respectively, all as shown in Fig. l.

N and O are the legs of our chair, which are crossed as shown in Fig. 1, and connected at their intersecting point in a swivel manner by the pins P. The legs N are connected at their upper ends in a swivel manner to .the side arms K by means of the pins Q, while the upper ends of the legs C) are adapted to detachably engage the stops R when the chair is fully opened out, these stops R being permanently secured in a suitable position on the side arms K.

S is a foot rest disposed between, and at tached to, the front members F and G, and adapted to be folded from an outwardly eX- tending position, as shown in Figs. l and 2, to a vertical position between the members F and G when the chair is closed up.

T is the permanent flat seat of our chair, formed of canvas or other like material and which is stretched around the cross bars D and H, so as to be held rigid at all times therebetween, as shown in Figs. l and 2.

V is a member formed of canvas or other like material, one end of which is secured to the cross bar C while the other end is secured to the cross bar I, this canvas member being adapted to form the back rest for the chair and to lie on top of the seat T when in the vertical position," as shown in Fig. 1, and to support the occupant in the reclining position, as shown in Fig. 2, or in any adjusted position, between the vertical, as shown in Fig. l, and the eX- treme reclining position, as shown in Fig. 2.

The manner in which our chair operates will be apparent, on reference being made fully straightened out,

`flat seat increasing as to the drawings, and may be described briefly as follows The chair, on being opened out into the vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, is used in the same way as an ordinary chair, the seat T and that portion ofthe canvas member V which lies thereon being perfectly flat and rigid. If it is desired to recline in the chair,'all the occupant has to do is simply to lean back on the back portion of the canvas member `V, which action will tilt the back of the chair, at the same time raising the front a corresponding amount. The greater the amount of backward inclination, the less area of fiat seat will be retained, but it will be seen that, until the canvas member V is a portion of the flat available, the area of the chair approaches the vertical and decreasing as it approaches the extreme reclining position.

To fold the chair, the legs O are disengaged fro-m their respective stops R, thus allowing the chair to be collapsed so as to bring theA back and `foot rest portions to lie flatly against one another, the legs also being brought together at the same time.

It will be seen, therefore, that we have devised a folding chair which can be adjusted to any position from the vertical to reclining, and in which any angle of repose may be maintained', while the chair is in rigid seat T is always v use, without the necessity of the sitter riswhich retains its rigidity ing from the chair or using any perceptible effort to `make or maintain such adjustments. It will also be seen that we have devised a folding chair having a fiat seat in all positions, and a chair which can be folded up into flat bulk occupying comparatively little space, and which isvsimple, inexpensive and capable 'of strong construction.

`What we claim as our invention is:

1. vA chair having a movable endless band seat supportingY member and a flexible seat co-acting therewith, the' adjacent interior faces of said band frictionally contacting with each other whereby movement of said bandY is retarded.`

2. A chair having a movable endless band seat supporting member, ing a portion thereof supported by said seat supporting member, the contact of which seat with the endless band when oc- Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each,

a flexible seat hav.

cupied causes the superposed portion of said endless band to sag whereby the adjacent interior faces of said band frictionally contact with each other and movement of the band is retarded.

3. A chair having the combination with inclinable back and foot rest portions, of means for maintaining and retaining the said portions in any desired position, said means comprising an endless band seat extending between said portions the lower portion of said band being adapted to tighten and the upper portion to sag under occupancy whereby longitudinal movement of the band is retarded when the chair is upright, said band being adapted for longitudinal movement when pressure is exerted on either the back or foot rest portion suflicient to overcome the frictional contact of the adjacent interior faces of the said band whereby the slippage of the said faces one on the other retards the movement of the said back and foot rest portions.

4. A chair having the combination with inclinable back and foot rest portions, of means for supporting and maintaining an occupant in the vertical or any of the inclined positions, said means comprising an endless band seat extending between said portions the lower portion of said band be. ing adapted to tighten and the upper portion to sag under occupancy whereby longitudinal movement of the band is retarded when the chair is upright, said band being adapted for longitudinal movement when pressure is exerted on either the back or foot rest portions sufficient to overcome the frictional contact of the adjacent interior faces of the said band whereby the slippage of the said faces one on the other retards the movement of the said back and foot rest portions, and a flexible seat having a portion thereof suppo-rted by the said endless band seat, said seat being adapted to straighten out as the back and foot rest portions are moved from the vertical to the inclined position.

Dated at Vancouver, B. C. this second day of March, A. D. 1914.

ROBERT ALEXANDER BATCHELOR. WILLIAM STEVENTON BATCHELOR. Witnesses:

JAMES TAYLOR, ALEX. D. WILSON.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

